Today in History for Sept. 24, 2015

Gideon Welles

Sept. 24, 1775 - Ethan Allen was defeated by British General and Canadian Royal Governor Guy Carleton at Montreal.

Sept. 24, 1776 - The Continental Congress prepared instructions for agents appointed to negotiate a treaty between the United States and France and instructed these agents to request assistance in securing arms. Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee were selected two days later.

Sept. 24, 1780 – Benedict Arnold fled to British Army lines when the arrest of British Major John André exposed Arnold's plot to surrender West Point.

Sept. 24, 1789 – The United States Congress passed the Judiciary Act which created the office of the United States Attorney General and the federal judiciary system, and ordered the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sept. 24, 1827 - Union General Henry Slocum was born in Delphi, New York. He fought at the First Battle of Bull Run, Va. in July 1861 and was named commander of the army’s XII Corps in October 1862. He fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, Pa. in Jully 1863 and was selected to command one wing of the Federal army during General William T. Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea” in late 1864.

Sept. 24, 1861 - A historic ruling came on this day from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, in a letter to Flag Officer Samuel duPont of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. A new regulation “with respect to...persons of color, commonly known as ‘contraband’, now subsisted at the navy yards and on board ships of war. It is not proper that they should be compelled to render...services without compensation. You are therefore authorized...to enlist them for the naval service, under the same forms and regulations as apply to other enlistments.” It would be some years before blacks were enlisted in the other services.

Sept. 24, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Point of Rocks, Md.

Sept. 24, 1861 – The Confederate infantry company known as the “Scotland Invincibles,” which was raised at Old Scotland in Monroe County, Ala., began marching from Old Scotland to Evergreen to catch the train to Montgomery, where they were officially organized as Co. H of the 17th Alabama Volunteer Regiment, under the command of Col. T.H. Watts.

Sept. 24, 1864 - Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest took more than 1,400 Union soldiers prisoner when he tricked Col. Wallace Campbell into surrendering a fort on Coleman Hill near Athens, Ala. Forrest convinced Campbell that his force was three times its actual size and that resisting or waiting on reinforcements was pointless. Most of the Union troops were from the 110th U.S. Colored Infantry, which was made up of former slaves from northern Alabama and southern Tennessee.

Sept. 24, 1868 – Longtime Monroe Journal editor Q. Salter was born. (Some sources say he was born in 1867.)

Sept. 24, 1890 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounced polygamy.

Sept. 24, ca. 1893 – Blues musician “Blind” Lemon Jefferson was born on a farm in Couchman, Texas.

Sept. 24, 1896 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of “The Great Gatsby,” was born Francis Scott Fitzgerald in St. Paul, Minn.

Sept. 24, 1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument.

Sept. 24, 1914 - D.R. Lamont, “who was cashier of the recently defunct bank at Atmore,” Ala., committed suicide by shooting himself.

Sept. 24, 1914 – The Monroe Journal reported that the construction of the electric light plant in Monroeville, Ala. was “making excellent progress” and that poles were being raised for lines around the public square. The electrical machinery had been shipped and was expected to arrive that week. The machinery had been formerly used at Marion Institute and had a 400-light capacity.

Sept. 24, 1915 – “The Daughter of the People,” featuring Laura Sawyer, was scheduled to be shown at the Arcade Theater in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 24, 1934 - Babe Ruth played his last game as a New York Yankee player.

Sept. 24, 1939 – Shortly after 1 p.m., a fire that originated in the editorial rooms of The Selma Times-Journal destroyed the century-old files of the newspaper and the composing room. “The Selma Times-Journal file room contained copies of the old Journal and Times, whose consolidation produced the present publication, suffered  both fire and water damage and its contents were said to have been rendered worthless.” Fire officials believed that faulty wiring or a cigarette caused the fire. Publisher Mrs. F.T. Raiford said there would be no interruption in publication.

Sept. 24, 1940 - Jimmie Foxx of the Boston Red Sox hit his 500th career home run.

Sept. 24, 1943 - Alabama author Martha Humphreys was born.

Sept. 24, 1944 – Irish poet Eavan Boland was born in Dublin.

Sept. 24, 1946 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Edward "Mean Joe” Greene was born in Elgin, Texas.

Sept. 24, 1947 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman supposedly created secret committee known as Majestic 12 on this date to deal with the Roswell Incident and other alien incursions.

Sept. 24, 1948 – The Honda Motor Company was founded.

Sept. 24, 1948 – Lamar County, Ala. native Terry Moore appeared in his final Major League Baseball game, taking the field a final time as an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sept. 24, 1950 - Forest fires in British Columbia and Alberta blacked out the sun over portions of Canada and New England. The after effects also caused the sun and moon to appear blue in locations as far away as Europe.

Sept. 24, 1952 – In an incident attributed to the “Devil’s Sea,” the Japanese research vessel Kaiyo Maru No. 5, with a crew of 31 aboard, was destroyed by an eruption while investigating undersea volcano activity.

Sept. 24, 1957 - The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field.

Sept. 24, 1959 – According to The Evergreen Courant, John Andrews was the City of Evergreen’s police chief and his patrolmen included James Ellis, Leroy McDonald, Travis Baggett and Matthew Davis Jr. L.E. “Gene” Salter was the radio dispatcher.

Sept. 24, 1959 – The Evergreen Courant reported that D.M. Pugh had sold Pugh’s Café on Rural Street in Evergreen, Ala. to Truman Hyde of Evergreen, who changed the name to “The Sweet Shop.”

Sept. 24, 1959 – The Evergreen Courant reported that during a recent meeting of the Conecuh Farm Bureau’s board of directors at the Evergreen (Ala.) Recreation Center, Hugh Brown, past president and long time leader of the Conecuh Farm Bureau, crowned Olivia Kindig as Conecuh County’s 1959 Maid of Cotton.

Sept. 24, 1960 – USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched.

Sept. 24, 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson receives the Warren Commission's report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which had occurred on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

Sept. 24, 1964 – Baseball great Rafael Palmeiro was born in Havana, Cuba.

Sept. 24, 1965 – Alabama Gov. George Wallace signed into law a bill that created the 35th Judicial Circuit, which was composed of Conecuh and Monroe County’s Rep. Wiley Salter introduced the bill, and Wallace appointed Evergreen attorney Robert E.L. Key as the circuit’s first circuit judge.

Sept. 24, 1968 – “60 Minutes” debuted on CBS.

Sept. 24, 1971 - Journalist Grover Cleveland Hall Jr. died in Montgomery, Ala.

Sept. 24, 1975 – Dougal Haston and Doug Scott on the Southwest Face expedition became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest by any of its faces.

Sept. 24, 1980 – Seven Evergreen (Ala.) Rotary Club golfers finished first in a four-club match at the Andalusia Country Club on this Wednesday. At that time, the Rotary Clubs of Andalusia, Brewton, Opp and Evergreen played each year in a ‘winner-take-all’ team tournament with the money going to the Rotary Foundation in the name of the winning club. Evergreen’s golfers included Jimmy Bell, Clyde Gibson, James Wilson, Bill McKenzie, David Hyde, Bill McGehee and Roy Pace, who finished 14 strokes in front and made it possible for well over $400 to be given to the Rotary Foundation on behalf of the Evergreen Rotary Club.

Sept. 24, 1981 – Ed Williams, 28, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edsel Williams of Owassa, Ala., was named editor and general manager of The Andalusia Star-News by Publisher Joe Starling. Williams, who’d been the editor and general manager of The Brewton Standard for the previous 2-1/2 years, replaced managing editor Ron Culbreth, who went to work at a Birmingham newspaper.

Sept. 24, 1982 – Birmingham, Ala. native Lee May appeared in his last Major League Baseball game, taking the field one last time for the Kansas City Royals.

Sept. 24, 1991 - Nirvana's album "Nevermind" was released.

Sept. 24, 1993 – The third episode of “The X-Files” – entitled “Squeeze” – aired for the first time.

Sept. 24, 1996 - Blockbusting bestselling author Stephen King released two new novels at once on this day. The first, “Desperation,” was released under King's name, while the second, “The Regulators,” was published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman.

Sept. 24, 1998 - Steven Tyler of Aerosmith threw out the first pitch at the Expos-Cardinal game in St. Louis, Mo.

Sept. 24, 2001 - U.S. President George W. Bush froze the assets of 27 suspected terrorists and terrorist groups.

Sept. 24, 2002 – Weather reporter Harry Ellis reported 1.28 inches of rain in Evergreen.

Sept. 24, 2004 – Eight days after the passage of Hurricane Ivan, Monroe County High School beat Hillcrest High School, 18-14, at Tiger Stadium in Monroeville, Ala. Outstanding Hillcrest players in that game included Maurice Bradley, Chris Hines, Clarence Jackson, Jerry Jackson and Brent Smith. Arlton Hudson was Hillcrest’s head coach. Outstanding Monroe players in that game included Taylor Anderson, Watson Black, Terrell Richardson and Omar Scott.

Sept. 24, 2004 – Abbeville Christian beat Sparta Academy, 52-14, in Evergreen, Ala.. Sparta’s touchdowns came on runs of five and 15 yards by Chase Brown, and Tony Raines scored a two-point conversion run after the first of Brown’s touchdowns. Other standout Sparta players in that game included Will Ivey and David McGinity.

Sept. 24, 2006 - The Detroit Tigers clinched their first playoff berth since 1987, and the Atlanta Braves were eliminated from the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.